-Down to Earth Attacks by desert locusts are threatening India, Iran and Pakistan, as well as the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region Desert locusts are breeding 400 times than usual due to favourable climatic conditions, according to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). This explosive multiplication may spell disaster for large parts of Asia and Africa. Favourable climatic conditions for the Pests have resulted in their multiplication,...

-The Indian Express Locusts normally arrive during July-October, but have already been spotted in Rajasthan. At a time India is battling Covid, they present a new worry with their potential for exponential growth and crop destruction. On April 11-12, scientists at the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) observed groups of grasshoppers at Sri Ganganagar and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan. But far from ordinary hoppers, these were desert locusts — the same destructive migratory...

-The Hindu In the middle of the pandemic, the FCI holds the key to warding off a looming crisis of hunger and starvation For several years now, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons. Set up under the Food Corporations Act 1964, in its first decade, the FCI was at the forefront of India’s quest of self-sufficiency in rice and wheat following the Green Revolution,...

-Down to Earth Rising temperatures due to climate change may be compounding the stress on crops in multiple ways, it says Insect attacks are becoming stronger with rising temperatures and plants are not able to cope with the double whammy from Pests and rising heat. These are the findings of a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study reinforces previous findings that persistent warm and...

-India Water Portal Excessive and unregulated pesticide use has not only poisoned the soil, water and environment in villages in Punjab’s Malwa region – it has also increased health risks for the people Punjab, riding high on pesticides Pesticide use continues to be very high in agriculture in India, where estimated annual production losses due to Pests amount to approximately US$ 42.66 million per year. Pesticides are chemical compounds that kill Pests such...